Brothers
by Asher the Fox
Summary: Tails lost a brother on that day. But he gained a new one...


I was bored this morning, so I decided to write this short little fic. Please enjoy. Tails is feeling how I felt when i lost my grandfather. But, without further ado, start the fic!~)

* * *

Tails dreaded the phone call he had been helplessly waiting for all his life. When he was younger, he never thought that anything could ever happen to his big brother Sonic. How wrong he had been. One time, Sonic had not come home from fighting Robotnik. The little fox had waited 3 hours for the cobalt hedgehog. He would have gone out to look for him himself, if the phone hadn't rung.

Sweating, Tails picked up the phone, dreading the worst. The kitsune checked the caller ID. It was Shadow.

_"H-Hello... S-Shadow?"_

_"I have that stupid blue faker. No doubt you were looking for him." _The Ultimate Lifeform had said.

"_What?! You found Sonic? Is he okay?"_

_"He was knocked out. He's pretty beat up."_

_"I'm coming right now."_Tails had hung up. The only other thing he could remember was bringing Sonic back home. And of course, by morining, the blue hero was up and ready to run. The kitsune had begged him not to go, but, of course, it was hopeless.

But now back to the present.

Tails was forcing himself to stay calm on that day, because Sonic had went to destroy Robotnik for good. The young kitsune was fiddling with one of his gadgets when the phone rang. Immediatly, his mind went blank.

Tails dreaded who was on the caller ID. He shuffled over to it. It read: **Hostpital.**The kitsune nearly fainted. He didn't hesitate to pick up the receiver.

"_Hello? Is this Miles Prower?" _came the voice from the other end.

_"Yes."_

_"Mr. Prower, we have some very bad news. I'm afraid to say, but we recently found Sonic the Hedgehog, along with a dead Ivo-"_

_"I'm coming." _Tails had never felt so scared as he was right now. Using his tails to propel himself forward, he took off into the sky.

_Please Sonic......_

* * *

When Tails had arrived at the hospital, he was suprised to see Amy, Knuckles, Cream with Cheese, The Chaotix, Shadow, Rouge, Blaze, and Silver. Knuckles appraoched him.

"He's not gonna make it." Knuckles told him.

The kitsune felt my muscles tense and tighten up. _No way. No. Sonic couldn't die, he ment everything to me, everything_!

Tails looked at the rest of the group. Amy and Cream were crying. The Chaotix couldn't even meet his gaze. Shadow just had the same blank look on his face. Blaze and Silver looked very sad.

"W-Where i-is h-he?" He managed to say to Knuckles.

Knuckles took ahold of Tails' arm and walked up to the hospital's front doors. Tails's whole head was spinning.

Finally, they reached the elevator. The fox went in, then The Guardian. Knuckles presses the 5 button, and we began to go up. Tails felt a small jerk, then the doors opened. I whole hoard of nurses and doctors were waiting for us.

The nurse the fox had talked to on the phone stepped forward. "I'm very sorry Mr. Prower. Sonic-"

Tails choked out, "I know. Knuckles already told me."

"Sonic would still like to see you. He was deterimined to see you before he goes on." The doctor said. He waved for Tails and Knuckles to follow him.

They had reached Sonic's room. The doctor opened the door, and only Tails went in.

"Sonic! It's okay, I'm here now." The fox cried. Sonic looked as though he didn't have more than a couple minutes left. He was bleading in several places, and it looked as though someone had hit him in the stomach with a gun.

"T-tails... Lil'.... B-bro..." Sonic wheezed. "I-it's...o-okay....n-now...."

Tails sobbed, "Sonic! Please! Don't leave me..."

"I-i...L-ove...y-you...l-lil'....b-bro...."

And with that, Sonic The Hedgehog took his last breath.

* * *

"Tails! Hurry up! You're going to miss the will reading!" Cream the rabbit shouted up the stairs at Tails' house.

"I'm coming. Hang on." The kitsune yelled back as he flew down the stairs. Cream opened the front door, and the two of them flew off toward Green Hill Zone. In the distance, they could vaguely see their friends.

It had been 5 days since the blue hero's death. Tails had not taken it well. He probably would have starved, if Cream wasn't there to force him to eat something.

"Tails? Are you okay?" The little rabbit waved a hand in front of his face.

"What? Oh... yeah I'm okay."

The twosome landed next to the Chaotix. Everyone from the hospital visit was here. Tikal was standing on a giant rock with her chao surrounding her. She was holding a very old piece of paper.

"Is everyone here?" Tikal asked.

Vector scanned the grounds, then nodded.

"Then let's begin." Tikal began to read the will. "_Dear Friends, (and some rivals), If you are hearing this will, then I have obviously died. I tried to split my possesions pretty equally. Well enough talk, let's get to the good stuff. Knuckles, seriously man, take a vacation. Stop staring at that rock!"_

Knuckles smiled in spite of himself. "_Next, Rouge, I've collected a bunch of rare jewels from around the world. Help yourself." _"Thanks blue boy," The white bat said.

"_Cream and Cheese, of course, I coudn't forget about you guys. You and your mother have always been so kind to me, and I thank you. I have a nice beach house in Flordia, and since I have no use of it, it's yours. Free of charge." _Cream had tears in her eyes.

"_Vector, Espio, and Charmy: I know how hard you guys have worked to earn money, so I'm giving you half the investments in my bank account." _Vector's eyes were money symbols. Espio rolled his eyes.

"_Okay, everybody, listen up. This next part of this will is very important. At least to me. Shadow the Hedgehog, If you'd honor my last wishes, then please, do this for me: Be the world's new hero. Take my place. The people of this planet need you, more than you think. I'm asking you this because I know you will live forever, and forever be there to protect the planet."_

Everyone's eyes were on the Ultimate Lifeform. Shadow took a deep breath and said, "Fine. I will honor his last wishes."

"Moving on. _Amy, I always loved you. I was too shy to tell you, though. Stay strong, and keep on whacking with that hammer we all know and love." _Amy couldn't take it anymore, she broke down in tears.

"_Silver and Blaze: Come on, we know you like each other. Silver, no denying it. *Wink Wink*" _Silver and Blaze blushed.

"_and finally, Tails, you were always the one that mattered most to me. I would have died to protect you. Tails, you get all the rest of my belongings. But there is one special item. when you go back to the house, look inbetween my matresses. Use whatever's there to get into the chest in the attic. I'm gonna miss all of you guys._

_"~Speed of Sound, Sonic the Hedgehog."_The echidna finished as she rolled up the will. "That's all of it."

Tails was speechless.

* * *

The night before the funeral was a disaster for Tails. He felt like he was slowly walking to his doom. Every minute seemed to go by like hours. Time itself seemed to freeze.

"How will I ever face tomorrow?" The kitsune asked himself. Only God knew.

The next morning, they all gathered at the church for the funeral. The whole thing was a blur to Tails, even the burial. Everyone had left right after the funeral.

Tails was thinking about Sonic once again, when he remembered the will. The fox raced up to Sonic's bedroom and searched under the matresses. The kitsune found a small key. He raced up to the attic to find the chest. Once he had found it, he stuck the key in the hole. Perfect fit. He opened the chest to reveal a small album. On the first page was picture of him as a baby, playing with a younger looking Sonic. And for the first time it really hit him. Sonic was dead. Gone forever. He was never coming back. Tears fell on the book page.

Tails was so broken inside he couldn't even think straight. How could he ever get over this? No one else never would understand... except one person. Yes, Shadow would know what to do... maybe....

The kitsune powered up the Tornado, and took off. The weather was perfect. Sonic would have liked to run today. He always had, rain or shine. Tails looked at his GPS system._ Almost there...._

Tails landed the plane in Shadow's front yard and walked up to the black hedgehog's front door. He knocked three times. No one came to the door. Just when the fox was about to go, the door opened, revealing the Ultimate Lifeform.

"What do you want?" Shadow growled. His quills were bent at funny angles, he was wearing sweats, and he was holding his Maria doll. His eyes looked pretty bloodshot too.

"I... I need to talk to you Shadow." The kitsune mumbled.

"This better be good, I was sleeping." Shadow replied.

Tails walked into Shadow's house, surprised at what he saw. The red-striped hedgehog's house was imaculate. No objects scattered on the floor, no empty containers on the counters. Shadow sat down on the couch, gesturing for Tails to do the same.

"So, what's your problem?" Shadow asked grumpily.

Tails blurted out, "Shadow, how did you ever get over Maria's death? I don't know what to do anymore...."

Shadow's whole face went blank. _Maria...._

_"_Hello? Shadow?" the fox asked tentatively.

"I can't answer that because....... I never really got over her death." the black hedgehog whispered. "Why do you think I'm like this? Did it ever occurr to you that maybe I was once like the rest of you? Have you not wondered who I really was?"

Tails was stunned. "No..." he said quietly, "It never occurred to me....."

"Then I can't help you. I have my own problems." Shadow hissed.

The kitsune could feel this blood pressure rising. How dare he say this! "LISTEN UP, SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, AND LISTEN GOOD. YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH! IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!"

Shadow yowled back, "DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT FAIR! I WATCHED HER GO, POWERLESS TO HELP!"

"Please Shadow.... Help me...." Tails said as tears fell down his face. "Do it for her....for Sonic...."

"No. Now get out."

* * *

Shadow didn't know what this feeling was. Was it regret that he had kicked the fox from his house? _No, I never regret, except...._

The Ultimate Lifeform pushed the though away as he went to geta pop tart out of the cuboard.

"Well, if it isn't Mr. Emo!" came an all TOO familiar voice. Shadow turned around and saw Sonic the Hedgehog standing there.

"No way.... this isn't possible.... Argh! Can't you leave me alone even when you're dead?! I'm honoring your last wishes so-" Shadow was interupted by the blue hero.

"It's not about that Shads. It's about my lil' bro." Sonic began to pace.

"What about him? And stop calling me Shads!" Shadow snarled.

"Why did you kick him out?" Sonic asked.

"Because he was....." Shadow didn't have an answer.'

"Is it because you really cared about him?' Sonic smirked.

"Why you!" Shadow went to punch Sonic, but all he felt was air. Sonic laughed. "You can't hurt me. I'm a spirit. Unluckily for you. But anyway, Shadow, please watch him. If you could see him right now..." Sonic began to disappear.

"Wait! Faker, what do you mean?"

But the cobalt hedgehog was gone. And Shadow knew what he had to do.

* * *

Tails was on top of a skyscraper in Metropolis. He knew this was the only way to get over Sonic's death was to join him. The kitsune took a deep breath. _I'm coming Sonic....._

And he jumped.

* * *

Shadow could see something falling in the glow of the sunset. _Hurry up! _came Sonic's voice from his head. _Come on, I know you can run faster than that faker!_

"I'll show you fast!" Shadow yelled; he picked up speed as He skated even faster. He broke the sound barrier as a loud boom echoed around the city.

_Almost there, almost there....._

Shadow put on an extra burst of speed. The black hedgehog caught Tails just in time.

_Thank you Shadow the Hedgehog._

* * *

Everything okay now. I still haven't gotten over Sonic's death, but things have definatly gotten better. Even though I lost my brother on that day, I gained a new one. One that will last forever.

_Fin_


End file.
